Credited Service 

Your years of Credited Service are used to determine when you qualify for benefits and how much your benefits will be:

Credited Service is Defined as:

Prior Service which means service prior to July 1, 1985, as transferred from the Miami Plan or the Orlando Plan (as applicable)

plus

Years of Service following June 30, 1985.

Year of Service which means each Plan Year after June 30, 1985, during which a Member has completed at least 1000 Hours of Service with the diocese. For Religious Sisters and Brothers, a Year of Service means each Plan Year after June 30, 1985, during which a member performs services within the Diocese and/or is on disability leave for at least six (6) full calendar months.

Special Rule 

For each Plan Year during which a Member, other than a Religious Sister or Brother, and has completed at least 501 Hours of Service but less than 1000 Hours of Service with the Diocese, that Member shall accrue one-half Year of service. Hours of Service means any hour for which a Member is paid or entitled to payment for the performance of duties in the Diocese. 

Maternity/Paternity Leave

For employees other than Religious Sisters and Brothers, following June 30, 1985, the term “maternity/paternity leave” shall mean the absence from work by reason of the pregnancy of the Employee, the birth of a child, the placement of a child in connection with the adoption of the child by the employee, or the caring for a child during the period immediately following the birth of placement for adoption. Additional hours of service will be credited if necessary to prevent a break in service in the year such absence begins. If no additional hours are required in that year, they will be available for the following year to prevent a break in service. The Employer may require certification that the leave was for one of the permitted reasons. Hours credited for maternity/paternity leave are not taken into account for benefit accrual purposes.

Breaks in Service 

If you are an Employee who is not a Religious Sister or Brother, any Plan Year during which you have less than 501 hours is considered a Break in Service. If you are an Employee who is a Religious Sister or Brother, any Plan Year during which you do not complete three or more months of service as a sister or brother in the Diocese is considered a Break in Service. Under the Plan, a Break in Service is considered to be an interruption of your employment. However, you remain entitled to the years of service you had earned before your Break in Service began if:

1. You were vested before the Break in Service.

or

2. The number of your consecutive Breaks in Service years is less than five, and less than the number of years of Credited Service before the Break.

NOTE: If you have 5 or more Years of Credited Service you are fully vested and cannot lose benefits due to Break in Service.

If you are a Religious Sister or Brother, you cannot forfeit any Years of Credited Service accrued after June 30, 1985.

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